Education in Wales in 2013: A year in review

It’s been another whirlwind year for education in Wales, with a shock change in minister heading a long list of notable stories. Education editor Gareth Evans runs through the main events of a busy 2013...

Ann Keane, Huw Lewis, Leighton Andrews and Michael Gove all had a big impact on education in Wales in 2013

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January

• The strength of Welsh degrees is called into question after figures reveal universities in Wales are accepting students who were close to failing their exams. Data obtained by WalesOnline shows students are winning places on university degree courses with the equivalent of just two E grades at A-level. Shadow Education Minister Angela Burns says the revelations “make a mockery of entry requirements” and university places should be awarded on merit.

• Schools in Wales must do more to address “mediocre teaching performance” and inconsistencies between classes, the nation’s chief inspector warns. In her third annual report, head of Estyn Ann Keane argues that “too many” headteachers are failing to provide enough support or challenge for teachers whose work is “barely adequate”. She says that in a minority of secondary schools – defined by Estyn as being below 40% – line-management arrangements are not robust and performance management targets lack focus and challenge.

• The Welsh Government commits to retaining GCSEs and A-levels and vows to develop its own qualifications system after rejecting Westminster’s vision for education. Deputy Minister for Skills Jeff Cuthbert accepts all recommendations put forward by an independent review panel. The decision means Wales’ education system will diverge significantly from that followed in England, where GCSEs are expected to be scrapped and replaced with a new O-level style “EBacc”.

February

• Universities in Wales could be at risk of collapse if student numbers continue to fall, a senior manager warns. A source tells WalesOnline the current situation is “serious” and failure to recruit students well in the future could have far reaching implications for higher education institutions. When asked if universities in Wales could go the way of troubled commercial chains like HMV and Blockbuster, they said “going bust is legally possible”.

• Two of Wales’ leading exam boards warn that changes to A-levels in England could have serious implications for Welsh pupils. WJEC and OCR Cymru say retaining an A-level system that is comparable to England’s would be crucial, as other variations could be seen as inferior. It comes as Westminster Education Secretary Michael Gove prepares to overhaul A-levels in England, with the elite Russell Group of universities asked to advise on their future content.

• Education Minister Leighton Andrews takes steps to force the closure of a “failing” school in a radical move never seen before in Wales. Mr Andrews tells Cardiff council he is considering using his ministerial powers to order the closure of Llanrumney High School a year ahead of schedule. A four-week consultation period – to “test” Mr Andrews’ views – is launched, after which a final decision on the school’s future will be taken.

March

• Mr Andrews rebuffs suggestions he ordered a regrade of GCSE English language papers because Welsh pupils were “falling behind” those across the border. The minister stands by his decision to intervene and ensure improved grades were awarded to more than 2,000 pupils in Wales after the 2012 grading fiasco. He tells the Commons Education Select Committee a “sober and serious” report put forward by Welsh officials had made clear outcomes for students in Wales were “unsafe”.

• Academics and support staff with two years’ service are offered a “golden goodbye” ahead of Wales’ biggest ever university merger. Newport and Glamorgan universities launch a voluntary severance scheme for all permanent staff at both institutions to reduce duplication and cut costs. The scheme entitles workers who have given two years’ service to their university a pay-off worth a year’s salary – the first £30,000 of which will be tax-free.

• A council is forced to apologise after its education service became the sixth in Wales to require “special measures”. Education watchdog Estyn says Torfaen council had made “insufficient progress” since its last inspection in October 2011 and standards in its secondary schools remained unsatisfactory. The inspectorate criticises a lack of open debate about shortcomings, and says greater change and pace was required.

April

• A new “metropolitan” university that it is claimed will rival any in the UK is launched following the biggest merger ever seen in Welsh higher education. The University of South Wales (USW) brings together Glamorgan and Newport universities and is the result of a long-running drive to increase collaboration between institutions. Spanning five campuses and more than 33,000 students, USW rises above Cardiff University and becomes the sixth largest higher education institution in the UK. The Welsh Government provides an additional £24.8m over three years to help finance the initiative.

• A flagship initiative designed to raise school standards in Wales is dealt an early blow after teachers give a damning verdict to introductory seminars and training. Delegates attending a roadshow of events to update schools on Wales’ new Literacy and Numeracy Framework (LNF) are unimpressed by the level of information provided. Figures show school staff, who took time out of the classroom to attend the presentations, gave the events an overwhelming thumbs down and the majority said they would not attend similar events in the future.

• Ms Burns accuses the Welsh Government of “blaming everyone but themselves” when it comes to school standards.

Addressing the Welsh Conservative Conference at Swansea’s Liberty Stadium, she says there is “state amnesia” when it comes to education in Wales. Ms Burns criticises the “chronic underfunding” of education compared with England and attacks a decade of “hopeless ministers” for contributing to Wales’ sub-standard schools system.

May

• Wales’ chief schools inspector admits to being “frustrated” by the pace of improvement in the nation’s classrooms. Ms Keane says levels of literacy and numeracy remain a “major issue” in Welsh schools and inspectors are not picking up the “systemic improvements” she wants to see. Ms Keane, who has been in post three years, warns that education is “a big ship that will take time to turn around” and parents may have to wait before dramatic changes begin to surface.

• The stability of Wales’ education department is called into question after “unnerving” changes in leadership. The resignation of schools director Chris Tweedale means the Welsh Department for Education and Skills (DfES) will soon have three new directors in post. The high turnover of senior management is a concern to unions, who believe the changes are an unwelcome distraction during a crucial period for education in Wales.

• Fixed penalty fines of up to £120 will be issued to parents of children who persistently play truant from school, the Welsh Government confirms. The new system, designed to tackle pupil absence rates and boost educational attainment, will take effect from September and could see parents in court. It will be administered by local authorities although headteachers, police and other accredited bodies would be eligible to issue penalty notices.

June

• A major review into education delivery suggests transferring some statutory education functions to Wales’ four regional consortia. If approved, the move would effectively cut out the layer of accountability provided by local authority education services and make consortia directly answerable to elected members. A report put forward by Robert Hill also suggests reducing Wales’ 22 local education authorities (LEAs) by a third by April 2014.

• Around half of pupils in Wales have weak numeracy skills, a snapshot of the nation’s schools system finds. Estyn says numeracy was poor in about two-fifths of primary schools and half of secondaries inspected in Wales over the past two years. Inspectors say there has been “little progress” and in the schools surveyed, around half of all pupils did not have a secure grasp of basic number skills.

• The Welsh Government is rocked by the shock resignation of its Education Minister. Mr Andrews stands down after campaigning against the closure of Pentre Primary School. An apparent conflict of interest (Rhondda Cynon Taf council was acting on Mr Andrews’ drive to curb surplus places in schools) puts paid to his three and a half years in office and signals the start of a new era under Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney AM Huw Lewis.

July

• Wales’ education department is restructured following the surprise resignation of its schools director. Mr Tweedale leaves the Department for Education (DfES) and his old job is split into two, with internal appointments made. Dr Brett Pugh, formerly head of school standards and delivery, and Jo-Anne Daniels, who led the curriculum division, assume new roles as part of the re-shuffle.

• Almost one in four pupils in Wales have special educational needs, new figures reveal. According to the annual schools census, there are 103,599 pupils requiring specialist support in Welsh classrooms. Unions said the statistics highlight the scale of challenge facing teachers, who should be judged against the many obstacles they have to overcome.

• A flagship education policy designed to raise pupil performance in Wales is dealt a blow by serious issues raised in a new report into its early impact. An independent review of the Foundation Phase by leading academics unearths “varying interpretations and attitudes” towards the initiative that appeared to influence practice within classrooms. It finds that the attitudes of headteachers and senior management are “pivotal” to the extent to which it is adopted in schools and the emergence of contradictory policies has “diluted” its impact.

August

• Wales’ further education landscape changes dramatically with the merger of six colleges into three. In the south-east, Coleg Morgannwg and the College Ystrad Mynach come together formally under its new name, Coleg Y Cymoedd, or College of the Valleys. Further along the M4, Neath Port Talbot College (NPTC) and Coleg Powys unite with a combined turnover of around £53m and a roll of about 18,000 students. In North Wales, Deeside College and Yale College, Wrexham complete the turnaround and merge to become Coleg Cambria.

• The Welsh Conservatives are forced to rule out selection “at any age” amid shock plans to revive grammar schools in Wales. The Tories clarify their position after controversial proposals to re-introduce grammar schooling should they come to power prompts fears of a two-tier education system. The party says it wants to resurrect “the best elements” of the now dated schools system – but there is no intention to bring back the 11-plus exam, once used to determine entry into secondary education.

• The percentage of A-level students in Wales being awarded at least an A grade falls for the fourth year in a row – and at the fastest rate since devolution. Official figures show that while the overall A-level pass rate remained stable at 97.6% in Wales, 22.9% of entries scored an A or A* this year, down from 23.6% in 2012 – a drop of 0.7%. Records show there has been no higher fall since 2000.

September

• Pupil progress in Wales’ schools is being hampered by teacher absence and an increasing number of lessons being covered by supply agencies, according to reports. A team from education watchdog Estyn and the Wales Audit Office (WAO) visited 23 primary and secondary schools and reported a growing reliance on supply teachers and cover staff. They say just under 10% of lessons in Wales were covered by temporary teachers and pupils’ education was suffering as a result.

• The UK’s two biggest teaching unions agree to cancel two days of rolling strikes in Wales after “constructive dialogue” with the nation’s new Education Minister Huw Lewis. The NASUWT and NUT teaching unions had planned to walk out in October as part of the next phase of their industrial action against the Welsh and Westminster governments. But while rolling action will take place as planned in parts of England, the threat of walk outs in Wales is withdrawn.

• A radical report into higher education provision in North-East Wales calls for a new “federal” approach to delivery linking universities and colleges. A panel led by former Glamorgan vice-chancellor Sir Adrian Webb says the status quo “was not an option” and “significant improvement” is needed urgently for the sake of learners and the region’s economy. It recommends Wrexham-based Glyndwr University and the newly-merged Coleg Cambria remain independent but strengthen ties under a “hard-wired” federation.

October

• Secondary schools in Wales are urged to raise standards in maths, which are proportionately the worst of all the home nations according to a new report. Education watchdog Estyn says maths is the lowest performing core subject at Key Stage 4 (GCSE) level in Wales and many employers are concerned by the lack of numerical skills demonstrated by employees. According to the report, attainment in GCSE maths at grade C and above in Wales is the lowest in the UK.

• Training for new teachers in Wales is “adequate rather than good” and progress in the last seven years has been slow, Professor Ralph Tabberer warns. A former director general of schools in the UK Government, Prof Tabberer says initial teaching training (ITT) is inconsistent across Wales, and “does not yet meet the top international benchmarks to which it aspires”. He says leadership is an issue and Wales’ three designated teacher training centres “have been slow to implement the stronger and more coherent management approach” they need to ensure consistently high standards.

• Mr Lewis makes breaking the link between poverty and attainment his number one priority for Wales’ schools system.

Delivering his first major speech to sector leaders, Mr Lewis announces a renewed focus on deprivation and its impact on school standards. He warns that pupils who are eligible for free school meals – a measure of poverty – are far less likely to achieve good GCSE grades and vows to develop a plan to tackle the issue.

November

• Schools in Wales could be scored on their ability to support pupils from deprived backgrounds under plans being considered by the Welsh Government. Mr Lewis reveals his officials are in talks with the nation’s schools watchdog about using inspections to monitor how well poverty is being tackled. Currently in Wales, around 20% of all primary school children are eligible for free school meals and figures show pupils from wealthier families perform better than their peers.

• Mr Lewis announces a review of Wales’ controversial tuition fee policy during a landmark speech to sector leaders. The Welsh Government appoints Sir Ian Diamond, vice-chancellor of the University of Aberdeen, to lead the review and report back after the next Assembly elections in 2016. It means the Welsh Government will honour its commitment to funding the tuition fee policy for the life of the current Assembly, despite calls from vice-chancellors to reconsider the way in which students are supported.

• There were “limitations” in the Welsh Government’s appraisal of its tuition fee options and the cost of its controversial subsidy is expected to be 24% more than first thought, a report finds. Auditor General for Wales Huw Vaughan Thomas says that, while the Welsh Government had implemented tuition fee policy effectively, it could have done more to appraise its options before agreeing current arrangements. He says the extent to which it considered potential changes in its assumptions, including the tuition fee rates that institutions were likely to charge and the overall number and cross-border flow of students, were areas worthy of more consideration.

December

• The vice-chancellor of the UK’s leading university throws his weight behind the Welsh Government’s vision for qualifications, which he believes will give Wales’ learners the best chance in life. Cardiff-born Professor Sir Leszek Borysiewicz says plans to strengthen GCSEs and A-levels in Wales were both “fit for purpose” and “competitive at the highest level”. Addressing delegates at a conference in Cardiff, Sir Leszek says recommendations were “rooted in evidence” and welcomed the fact they had been developed through dialogue.

• UK Education Secretary Michael Gove says Wales is “a country going backwards” and Welsh Labour’s failure to reform the nation’s education system was to blame for stifling the dreams of its children. It followed the latest Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) results, which found Wales languishing at the bottom of the UK pile in key skills. The nation’s teenagers scored lower in reading, maths and science than their counterparts in England, Northern Ireland and Scotland.

• A YouGov poll predicts more bad news for Wales’ education system, with 61% of Welsh adults believing standards will stay the same or get worse over the next 12 months. More than a third (35%) of those surveyed describe the current state of education in Wales as “bad”.